Speakers

Friday 3rd August 2012

IDENTITY

Nadine Mortimer Smith – Singer To Artist

Award-winning lyric soprano Nadine Mortimer-Smith is a versatile and charismatic performer and recording artist, with a growing international reputation on the operatic stage. Critic Philip Buttall praises Ms. Mortimer-Smith’s ability to ‘soar effortlessly and powerfully’.

In the 2011/12 season, Nadine is currently singing the role of Cio Cio San with Opera Brava in their production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, having sung the same role earlier in the season with St Albans Chamber Opera. As soprano soloist in Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, she collaborated with the Isis Ensemble and Lloyds Choir, and appeared in a mixed-media collaboration with artist Yinka Shonibare MBE on his film installation Addio del Passato, which will be exhibited at London’s Royal Opera House, Linbury Theatre, Covent Garden between August 31st and September 2nd.

Past seasons include performances of Strauss’s Four Last Songs with Plymouth Symphony Orchestra and Dartington Festival Orchestra, with whom she also performed Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro. Nadine has performed Dido (Dido and Aeneas) with Bury Court Opera and Southbank Sinfonia; the title role in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda and Mimì in La Bohème with Riverside Opera; a Tribute to Malcolm McLaren on BBC Radio 2; The African Madonna in Norway; and has sung at the Royal Opera House in both the Floral Hall and the Clore Studio. Nadine has also appeared in Porgy and Bess with Opera de Lyon and the Edinburgh International Festival, in Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and in Carmen Jones at the Royal Festival Hall.

Ms. Mortimer-Smith has worked extensively with contemporary operatic composers, creating the roles of Alicia, Swaharaga and Lucia for Nigel Osborne’s opera Naciketa (libretto Ariel Dorfman) with Opera Circus; and the role of Erin for Steven Kilpatrick’s Flightpaths (libretto Adam Strickson).

A specialist in American contemporary repertoire, Nadine recently recorded song cycles by Previn, Copland and Harbison with pianist Tomasz Lis.  In September she gives a recital of this repertoire at the 1901 Arts Club in London. In October Nadine makes her third appearance at the London Festival of American Music, where she previously performed gave the European première of John Harbison’s Milosz Songs, premiering songs by Bolcom, Child and Barber at The Warehouse.

In addition to her work as a performer, Nadine has curated a number of concerts, operas and events. For the Grimeborn Festival she devised Why don’t you just sing jazz?, supported by the Arts Council England, which celebrates the lives of black opera singers of the 20th century.

Nadine was awarded the prize for ‘Most Promising Voice’ at the inaugural Voice of Black Opera competition. In March 2012, she was shortlisted for the Genesis Prize, awarded to outstanding mentors who give others confidence and inspiration to achieve artistic excellence in their chosen profession. As a result of her participation, the Genesis Foundation wish to work with Nadine and her company Opera in Colour, which aims to make opera visible among all cultures and nurture emerging talent.

www.nadineopera.com

Adey Grummet – Why Sing?

Adey Grummet is a soprano who works hard to defy classification. Although she has a dim, dark past in shows, dance and straight theatre, she is mostly involved in contemporary classical music these days. She has created more that a dozen roles in new operas for contemporary composers including John Woolrich, Julian Grant and  Stephen McNeff.  She often works with Richard Thomas in developing his new repertoire. She is regularly involved in the devising processes of new work for companies such as The National Theatre and the Royal Opera House and is a founder member of the fusion vocal group The Shout with Orlando Gough.  She is also a writer and lyricist and has recently had her first full-length opera libretto, Circus Tricks, commissioned by Tête à Tête and produced in March this year. She is a member of the Book/Music/Lyrics writers’ laboratory. She also works for a number of national bodies as an animateur and workshop leader, regularly involved in projects for ENO Baylis and the BBC and she is a mentor and vocal consultant for Music For Youth. And she is a conductor, directing her own vocal ensemble The Curate’s Egg. She is also a dab hand with a two speed hammer drill and can play the Hawaiian guitar on her nose.

www.adey.drupalgardens.com

Michael Henry – Why Sing?

Michael Henry is a London-born multi-genre composer, vocalist, musical director and clarinettist. His musical education began at London’s Centre for Young Musicians in 1977 and continued at the Royal College of Music 1981-85 with clarinet and composition as joint first studies. Recent compositions include the opera Circus Tricks for Tete a Tete in 2012, the Rocket Symphony  for 500 voices and fireworks for Linz as European Capital of Culture 2009, and Stand for 16 voices, performed in the BBC PROMS 2006. His wind music, including Birdwatching for clarinet quartet, is performed regularly in the US and Japan.

Michael has provided live backing vocals for George Michael, Chaka Khan, Barry Manilow, Will Young, Jamelia and The Pet Shop Boys, studio vocals for Diana Ross, Robbie Williams, Billy Bragg, Chrissy Hynde, and Michael Ball, classical performances for Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Glyndebourne and Ensemble Modern of Frankfurt and full-time membership as vocalist, composer and arranger in acapella groups Flying Pickets and The Shout. He was also a soloist in Scott Walker’s Drifting & Tilting at  London’s Barbican in 2008.

Michael has also worked as vocal music director for the National Theatre on Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman in  2009, on Fela! in 2010 and on the Ibsen play Emperor and Galilean in 2011.

Other recent engagements include vocal animateur & conductor for the BBC “Horrible Histories” Prom 2011 and vocal director, arranger and performer on the soundtrack for science fiction webisode series RCVR (“Receiver”).

www.milversonmusic.com

Jamie MacDougall – Remember Me?

Born in Glasgow, Jamie MacDougall has established himself as one of the country’s most versatile singers and performers. Since 2001 Jamie has been the nation’s voice of classical music for BBC Radio Scotland.

2003 saw Jamie’s move to television when he presented and sang at the BBC Proms in the Park from Glasgow as part of the Last Night of the Proms festivities.

2009 saw the release of the complete Haydn Folk Song arrangements on Brilliant Classics. This 20 CD collection of 429 songs was recorded over 5 years with the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt and Scottish soprano Lorna Anderson. During the year long celebration of Haydn’s 200th anniversary, Jamie performed these songs in Milan, New York, Washington DC, Vienna, London, Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as at numerous European festivals.

Jamie’s recent appearances include touring his one man tribute show on Kenneth Mckellar, the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Choral Society, and song recitals in Scotland with Malcolm Martineau and Fali Pavri. He appears regularly with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and will once again front BBC’s Christmas Classics and Christmas at the Movies at the City Halls in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Ayr. In January he performed Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang in Seoul as well as give a series of recitals in Mexico with Mexican concert harpist Angel Padilla and Scottish guitarist Matthew McAllister. In February he appeared in Australia with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra to star in their Scottish Gala and will return for a solo tour of Australia in 2013.

Jamie has worked with many of the leading British opera companies, as well as in Europe, America and Canada and in 2011 he appeared in the Sloane’s Project the inaugural production with NOISE (New Opera in Scotland Events)

On the concert platform he has worked with some of the world’s top baroque, chamber and symphony orchestras, including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the St Louis and Houston Symphony Orchestras. He has worked with conductors including Tamas Vasary, Ivan Fischer, Marin Alsop, Richard Hickox, Trevor Pinnock, Nicholas McGegan and Daniel Harding.

As a recitalist, Jamie has performed with pianists Malcolm Martineau, Graham Johnson, Roger Vignoles and Julius Drake, at many of the world’s greatest music festivals, including the Edinburgh International Festival, the Perth Festival, the Salzburg Festival and the Aldeburgh Festival. He has also appeared in the Wigmore Hall’s International Song-Makers series.

Jamie’s extensive discography of over 45 titles, covers baroque and classical, German, Scottish and English song as well as 20th century music.

 

Patricia MacMahon – A Teacher’s Perspective

During her career, Patricia MacMahon has specialised in concert, recital and oratorio work, frequently recording for BBC.   Her profession has taken her to Israel, Aix en Provence, Norway, St. Petersburg and Brussels. She has performed with the English Chamber Orchestra in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Barbican and St. John’s, Smith Square in London. In Scotland she has sung frequently with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and has appeared often at the Edinburgh International Festival.

As well as fulfilling professional engagements, Pat taught singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama for over thirty years and she received an Honorary Fellowship in March 2000.   She is still very much sought after by students at home and abroad.   Pat has taken many masterclasses, including visits to the Royal College of Music in London; the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester; the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff; the Samling Foundation Masterclass with Sir Thomas Allen and Malcolm Martineau; at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam; in Portugal (Oporto, Aveiro and Vila do Conde); and at Lake Placid Institute International Voice Seminar, USA.   She has adjudicated and examined throughout the UK and as far afield as Hong Kong and Singapore.

 

Tina Ellen Lee – I Was Never The Same Again

Tina Ellen Lee FRSA is a singer, actress and producer. Tina’s career was multi faceted until 1988 and included her role as the General Secretary of The Association of Photographers in London between 1979 and 1988.  She produced two documentary television film series, amongst others, with Robert Golden Pictures. Tina is artistic director of Opera Circus, a successful experimental opera/music theatre company founded in 1991. Tina has performed in concerts, festival operas, fringe theatre, television commercials and feature films and as a voice over artist. As a performer and producer Tina toured all over the world with Opera Circus in various of the companies productions (Kill Me I Love You, Shameless, King Stag) and has produced all of their work. Her sole production credits include Cat Man’s Tale with music by Alasdair Nicolson and text by David Harrower, Arcane, music by Paul Clark (Clod Ensemble) and text by David Spencer and Differences in Demolition with Nigel Osborne and with text by Goran Simic.  Tina works closely with the composer Nigel Osborne and is currently developing the chamber opera Naciketa with Nigel and the writer Ariel Dorfman.  Her work with Nigel Osborne has led her to establish partnerships with other arts organisations and NGO’s in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria and the Netherlands both for the creation of new work and to continue to explore the use of the arts and culture to encourage inter cultural and ethnic understanding. In particular she supports the work of the youth theatre company FETUS and the Youth Theatre in Srebrenica. Opera Circus was based in London for fifteen years and is now run from Dorset.  This has led to a number of successful community projects in the region from Incomer and the Land to the first food film festival Screen Bites.  Most recently, the Youth Cultural Exchange Project Simply Human between Bridport and Srebrenica as part of the EU Cultural Project Wake Up. Tina is currently a director with Robert Golden Pictures Ltd., and a founder and Director of the new web company in the USA Objective Cinema. She is a member of the International Women’s Forum and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
www.operacircus.co.uk
www.robertgoldenpictures.com
www.objectivecinema.net

BUSINESS

Renee Salewski – The Search For Balance

Renée Salewski is a Canadian soprano who’s performance experience includes roles in opera, theatre, voiceover and film. She has enjoyed many roles both on and off stage with companies such as English Touring Opera, The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, Opera Brava, Opera a la Carte, and The Arcola Theatre. On stage highlights include, Frasquita, Micaela (Carmen), Mabel (Pirates of Penzance), Marsinah (Kismet), Cobweb (Misdsummer Nights Dream), Little Red (Little Red Riding Hood). With her penchant for taking on roles as an educator, leading on-stage workshops for children with special needs, devising performance projects with the public and lecturing at various institutions including the University of Exeter and Cambridge University are just a few of the off stage highlights of her career thus far.

Renée has also appeared on the concert platform as a soloist in the UK, Canada, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Korea in a variety of repertoire including Haydn’s The Creation, Mozart C minor Mass, Mozart Requiem, the Rossini Stabat
Mater, and Carmina Burana, and The Plague Songs for the Channel 4 film Exodus.

Alongside her career as a performer Renée lectured in voice and stagecraft at Canterbury Christ Church University. She has designed and implemented courses of study in singing, music theatre and stagecraft for the Children’s Dance Theatre Company (Kingston, Ontario Canada), Canterbury Christ Church University (Kent, England), and Da Capo School of Performing Arts (Kent, England). Renée has also been appointed the Director of the highly respected Youth Troupe at Bravo Academy of the Performing Arts in Toronto Canada.

Her directorial credits include, assisting George Roman on several international projects including an English adaptation of the Hungarian hit musical The Attic which has its premiere in London in 2005, prepping and maintaining 2 international tours as Associate Director for Ethan Lewis Maltby’s percussion spectacular Noise Ensemble, and she is Director in Residence at Allyson Devenish ‘s company Syncopation in the UK.

Since Renée’s return to Canada from the UK, she has, with the assistance of many, founded Resonance Theatre and, with Allyson Devenish, cofounded The Continuous Artistic Development Studio; the flagship course of which is ‘The Audition Clinic’ which aims to help classical singers home their skills in this, much neglected, area.

Recent projects as Artistic Director of Resonance Theatre include, directing and producing Tom Smail and Emma House’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ for FringeKids! Toronto, directing and appearing in ‘Drawing a Blank’ as part of The Empty Room’s ‘Strange Things Done’ and developing their 2013 season. Renée is also in the throws of collaborating as a lyricist with composer Ethan Lewis Maltby on their musical “The Thing that Came from Elsewhere~ A B-Musical’.

www.resonancetheatre.com

www.resonancevoicestudios.com

Kate Flowers – Its All About You

Kate Flowers was born in Cheshire and studied at the RNCM where she was awarded the Curtis Gold Medal. After winning the Miriam Licette Award, she was able to study in Paris with Pierre Bernac and a Royal Society of Arts award allowed her to study at the London Opera Centre.Kate began her career whilst still at college, singing with the London Festival Ballet, (not on point), but singing in the Three Cornered Hat and English Opera Group.Her first major rôle was at Glyndebourne where she sang Barbarina, Despina, Nerina in “La Fedelta Premiata” and the Vixen. And where she was given the John Christie Award.Kate’s career has taken her around the world and to all the major opera houses in the UK.

For Opera North she has sung  Susanna, Zerlina, Despina, Gretel, Yum Yum, Nedda, 1st Lady (Magic Flute), Aloes (L’etoile), Jenny (Threepenny Opera)

D’Oyly Carte:  Rosalinda (Fledermaus) and Yum Yum
Scottish Opera: Polly (Beggars Opera),  Gabrielle ( La Vie Parisienne),  Jenny (Mahagonny), Anna (Intermezzo)
C.B.T.O: Karolina (Two Widows),  Alice (Falstaff), Dolly (Silas Marner),
War in Carl Davis’ Peace.
Garsington;  Madame La Rose in La Gazzetta
Welsh National Opera:  Jenufa, Valencienne, Marenka, Micaela.
Kate made her debut at La Fenice in Venice in the rôle of Selina in Weber’s Oberon.
Her ENO debut as Damigella in Poppea and her Royal Opera House debut in Der Rosenkavelier as Marianne Von Leitmezzerin
Kate’s concert career is equally distinguished, singing with Rattle, Dorati, Elliot Gardner, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Hickox, Andrew Davis, Heitink, Solti and many of the major orchestras in this country and abroad.
Kate is a regular broadcaster, frequently to be heard on Friday Night is Music Night and is known to many from her DVDs of major G and S rôles. Her recordings include The Little Sweep on Naxos, Ulisse on Decca, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Richard Blackford and Sullivan Oratorios.
Kate is equally at home in cabaret as in opera and has taken her one-woman show to major festivals in the UK and abroad. But the one thing that she is most proud of is having appeared as Mrs F in the National Theatre of Brent’s production of The Messiah at the Bush Theatre.
Kate is the co-Director of Co-Opera Co. an innovative opera company which has at its heart the welfare and promotion of professional opera singers and orchestral players in the early stages of their careers, post-graduates nearing the conclusion of their course, budding conductors, directors, répétiteurs and people working towards a career in the technical side of the operatic profession.
www.co-opera-co.org

 Suzanne Fischer – Paddle Your Own Canoe

Suzanne Fischer is a young British soprano based in Berlin, Germany.  Specialising in lyric coloratura repertoire, she is currently preparing the roles of Gilda/Rigoletto and Blonchen/Die Entführung aus dem Serail.  Suzanne is fluent in Italian after a year’s study in Milan, Italy and has a degree in Music from The University of Edinburgh.  Awards whilst in Edinburgh include winning the Tovey Memorial Prize, the Michael Shea Bursary and the Florence Veitch Ibler Prize in the Margaret Fletcher Compeition.  Since graduating in 2010 Suzanne has been working on her vocal development, spending time in West Australia and has now settled in Berlin where she works regularly with coaches at the Deutsche Oper, studies privately in Turin with Laura Claycomb and travels to Vienna to work with Rusalina Mochukova and Chanda VanderHart.  In the past Suzanne has performed a large number of oratorios and undertaken various operatic roles and opera scenes for groups including the John Armitage Trust, Edinburgh Studio Opera and Hand Made Opera.  Suzanne is hoping to continue her studies further and is applying for various opportunities on the continent.

www.suzannefischer.co.uk

Mark Stone – Stone Records

Mark Stone studied at King’s College, Cambridge and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.
In the UK he has sung for The Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Opera North¸ Glyndebourne, Opera Holland Park, Buxton Festival, Garsington Opera and Grange Park Opera and abroad he has sung for La Scala Milan, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Liceu Barcelona, Leipzig, Stockholm, Montpellier, Netherlands Reisopera, Santa Fe, Philadelphia, Opera Atelier Toronto, Israeli Opera and New Zealand Opera. His operatic roles include Marcello, Belcore, Sonora, Gianni Schicchi, Ashton, Ford, Germont, Don Carlo (Forza), Silvio, Rossini’s Figaro, Don Giovanni, Almaviva, Guglielmo, Onegin, Yeletsky, Danilo, Eisenstein, Chou En-lai, Hector, Junius, Sid and Demetrius.
He has sung at all the major UK concert halls with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Gabrieli Players and the Hanover Band. He is also in demand as a song recitalist, in which capacity he has sung at London’s Wigmore Hall and New York’s Carnegie Hall.
He is a director of the CD label Stone Records, and he has also recorded for Sony BMG, EMI, Virgin, Opera Rara, Dutton and LSO Live.
Future plans include Mountjoy in Britten’s Gloriana (Royal Opera House), Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (Köln Oper), concerts and recitals around the UK and abroad, and further CD releases with pianists Stephen Barlow, Simon Lepper & Sholto Kynoch.
He lives in Sussex, UK with his wife Michelle and their son Thomas and in his spare time he enjoys playing the piano and long-distance running.
www.markstone.info

www.stonerecords.co.uk

Sophie Biebuyck – Seek The Silver Linings

Sophie Biebuyck began her musical education as a Choral Scholar at Wells Cathedral School before moving home and attending Brentwood School as a Music Scholar. Sophie then won the Dame Susan Morden Scholarship to study at Trinity College of Music in Greenwich which led to her gaining a Masters place at the Royal Academy of Music where she studied with Lillian Watson.

In early 2011 tragedy struck when Sophie’s hearing was badly damaged by a severe ear infection which left her unable to perform professionally. This left her at a  devastatingly premature and life-changing crossroads. Sophie faced the question; How would she keep music in her life and continue to forge a career?

Sophie founded Biebuyck Music London, a service for matching musicians to available work in the events industries. She also works at the Concordia Foundation helping them to achieve their mission to build bridges of friendship through Music and the Arts.

www.bmlondon.com

Lea Cornthwaite – Joy And Pain

Lea Cornthwaite is a singer, choir director and vocal & songwriting animateur who works with children as young as 5 to adults of 95, singers and non-singers alike. Recent projects include:
Leading singing with the BBC Concert Orchestra for BBC Music Nation and BBC Music Mix concerts.
Vocal director of the Royal Opera House Youth Company, currently preparing for a mainstage production of Hot House by Julian Grant, directed by Tom Guthrie.
AMD on Harvey Brough & Lee Hall’s opera ‘Beached’ for Opera North.
Vocal coach for Youth Music Voices.
Chorus master on The Royal Opera House’s ‘Ludd & Isis’ by Richard Taylor.
Vocal animateur on Orlando Gough’s ‘On the Rim of the World’ also for ROH.
Assistant director on the RPS award nominated ‘Confucius Says’ by Richard Taylor at the Hackney Empire.
Vocal animateur on Jonathan Dove’s RPS award winning cantata ‘On Spital Fields’.
He has also worked on many other projects with Opera North, ENO, the LSO, Sing Up, Glyndebourne, Garsington Opera, the Barbican Centre, the Southbank Centre, National Youth Theatre, Spitalfields Music, Hackney Music Development Trust, Youth Music and recently on a creative training project working with Palestinian refugee teachers in Lebanon for the charity CAST. Lea has a particular interest in singing for health and wellbeing and has been MD for ‘Mind & Soul’, a choir based at the Maudsley Hospital in London since 2006 who recently made their debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in John Browne’s ‘A Nightingale Sings’. Mind & Soul will be appearing as part of the CHORUS Festival at the Southbank Centre in May 2012.
Recent singing work includes the world premiere performance, recording and tour of Julian Marshall’s cantata ‘Out of the Darkness’ with the Schoolhouse 6 Ensemble.
Future projects include the Voices of the Future project for the Royal Opera House, Working to put together and train a community chorus for a new mainstage production at Garsington Opera.

www.leacornthwaite.com

 

PERFORMANCE

Iain Paterson – The Everyday Voice

With his critically acclaimed debut at the prestigious 2007 Salzburg Easter Festival as Fasolt Das Rheingold under Sir Simon Rattle, Iain Paterson confirmed his status as one of Europe’s leading young bass-baritones. He recently made an impressive house debut at The Metropolitan Opera as Gunther Götterdämmerung under James Levine, which immediately led to further invitations. In the future seasons Paterson will also make major debuts at Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Houston Grand Opera and Bayreuth Festival.

Recent highlights include Jochanaan Salome at the Salzburg Easter Festival and with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Simon Rattle, Gunther for the Opéra de Paris, Amfortas Parsifal, Mephistopheles Faust and Don Giovanni at the ENO. Paterson also performed Elgar The Kingdom under Sir Mark Elder with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, Beethoven Symphony No.9 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and made a welcoming return to the BBC Proms.

Iain Paterson studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Some of the operatic engagements at the beginning of his career included Biterolf Tannhäuser for Opera North, Timur Turandot and Titurel Parsifal for Welsh National Opera, Graf Lamoral Arabella, Le Bret Cyrano de Bergerac for the ROH, Leporello for Opéra de Nancy et de Lorraine, Theseus A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Teatro Real Madrid and Glyndebourne Festival, and Figaro for Glyndebourne Touring Opera. As a former ENO company principal he sang Gunther, Figaro, Foreman Jenufa, Schaunard La Bohème and Amonasro Aïda.

In previous seasons, Paterson has also sung Don Giovanni for Chicago Opera Theater, Amonasro for the Bregenz Festival, Monterone Rigoletto for the ROH and ENO, and Bottom A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Caen, Toulon and Nancy. He made his house debut at the Opéra de Paris in 2009/10 season as Fasolt Das Rheingold under Philippe Jordan to critical acclaim. He also appeared as Mandarin Turandot and Monterone for ENO and Redburn Billy Budd in a new production by Graham Vick for the Glyndebourne Festival.

On the concert platform, he performs with major orchestras with repertoire include Shostakovich Symphony No.13, Beethoven Symphony No.9, Elgar Dream of Gerontius and Elijah, Verdi’s Requiem and Messiah. He works regularly with Sir Mark Elder, Gianandrea Noseda, Edward Gardner and Paul Daniel, and has appeared at the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh International Festival.

Engagements in the 2011/12 season include title role in Fiona Shaw’s new production of The Marriage of Figaro for the ENO, Gunther in Robert Lepage’s new production of Götterdämmerung at the Met and later for the Bayerische Staatsoper, Fasolt for the Staatsoper Berlin, Beethoven Symphony No.9 with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra, Dream of Gerontius with the Bournemouth Symphony, and Christus St Matthew Passion with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

Iain Paterson is represented by Intermusica.

Claire Pendleton – Chorus: Career or Cop-Out?

Claire Pendleton studied at UCL/Birkbeck College, where she received distinction in Opera Performance and was awarded an Ottakar Kraus Memorial Scholarship. She then gained a Postgraduate Diploma at Trinity College of Music, winning several scholarships including the Ricordi Opera Prize and Beatrice Taylor Memorial Scholarship.

Operatic roles have included Tetka cover (Jenufa) and Giulia cover (Gondoliers), Lakme soprano (On The Town), Vendor & Young Woman (Kismet) for English National Opera, Mimi & Musetta for ENO’s Bayliss Programme and Mable & Gianetta for ENO Friends’ Evening, Anna Bolena for Swansea City Opera, Rusalka for ‘I Maestri’ and Opera Box, First Lady, for Opera Project and Opera à la Carte, Helmwige cover (Die Walküre) for Northern Wagner Orchestra, Aminta (Schweigsame Frau) for Garsington Opera Educational Project, Anna (Nabucco), Mimi, Countess Almaviva , Michaela and Queen of The Night, Madame Silberklang and High Priestess (Aida).

 Recently with English National Opera, Claire has sung the roles of Solo Woman in Turandot and Old Woman in Alexander Raskatov’s  A Dog’s Heart. She also covered the role of Mrs Naidoo in Phillip Glass’s Satyagraha and Flower Maiden in Parisfal and Suburban Mum in Nico Muhly’s Two Boys.

Claire has recorded the role of Blush of Morning in Arthur Sullivan’s ‘Rose of Persia’ with the Hanover Band which is now released on the CPO label. She has also recorded for Chandos, BBC television and BBC MusicMagazine.

Claire’s oratorio experience includes Messiah, most notably in the presence of HRH Princess Royal, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, with Bardi Orchestra and with the Oxford Philomusica, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, with the Wolsey Orchestra, Bach Cantata 124, at Guildford Cathedral, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the West Sussex Philharmonic, Mozart’s Requiem with Oxford Philomusica at Christ Church Cathedral Oxford, Haydn’s Creation, Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem, Rosinni’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Haydn’s Nelson Mass, Faure’s Requiem, Haydn’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Bach Mass in B Minor with the Brooke Street Band, under Joseph Cullen, in Verdi’s Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Hymn of Praise.

Claire studies with the distinguished soprano Marie McLaughlin and is a member of English National Opera. In May/June Claire sang off-stage solos in Detlev Glanert’s  Caligula with English National Opera.

Lucy Schaufer – Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Lucy Schaufer has earned critical and popular acclaim as a versatile and distinctive singing actress with companies as diverse as Washington National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, New York City Ballet, Houston Grand Opera, America Opera Projects, English National Opera, The Young Vic, Grand Théatre de Genève, Opera du Rhin Strasbourg, Opéra de Monte Carlo, Théâtre du Châtelet, Hamburg State Opera, Opera der Stadt Köln, New Israeli Opera, Opera North, Garsington Festival Opera, ROH2, Transition Projects, Leicester CURVE, New York City Center ENCORES!, Carnegie Hall and The Metropolitan Opera.

During her career, she has had the pleasure of working in productions by composers varying from Mozart, Puccini, Massenet, Strauss, Handel, Offenbach, Wagner, Humperdinck, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, John Adams, Oliver Knussen, Benjamin Britten, Samuel Barber, Harrison Birtwistle, Jake Heggie, Hans Werner Henze, Stephen McNeff, Herschel Garfein, Igor Stravinsky, Marc Blitzstein, Arnold Schoenberg, Kurt Weill, Adam Guettel, Jerome Kern, Stephen Sondheim, Stewart Wallace, Dan Welcher, Michael Tippett to Leonard Bernstein.

Recordings/DVDs include Emilia in Weill’s “The Firebrand of Florence” (BBCSO/Sir Andrew Davies), “Ira Gershwin at 100: Celebration at Carnegie Hall” (PBS TV/Rob Fisher), Octavian in “Der Rosenkavalier” (ARTE/Simone Young), The Girl in Paul Bowles’s “The Wind Remains” (Eos Ensemble/Jonathan Sheffer) and the Page in “Salome” (The Met’s Live in HD/Patrick Summers).

Most recently, she sang the title role of Jennie in Oliver Knussen’s “Higglety Pigglety Pop” for the Aldeburgh Festival directed by Netia Jones and conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth, and the Swiss Grandmother in Tom Morris’ new production of John Adams’ “The Death of Klinghoffer” (London premiere) for English National Opera.

As the producer of Turn the Page Productions, Lucy is dedicated to promoting new works and next year is producing the FREE FOR ALL FESTIVAL in Bath which will open with her singing the world premiere of Dan Welcher’s chamber opera “The Yellow Wallpaper.”

www.lucyschaufer.com

www.ywptheopera.com

Christopher Gillett – You Can’t Win

In a career spanning over thirty years the tenor Christopher Gillett has sung in opera houses across the globe and with some of the world’s finest orchestras and conductors. In the last three years he has sung at the Royal Opera, Los Angeles Opera, The Netherlands Opera, Teatro Reggio Emilia and Teatro alla Scala, Milan, with Sir Colin Davis, Sir Andrew Davis, Placido Domingo, John Nelson, Ivor Bolton and Robin Ticciati.
On CD/DVD he his recordings include the title role in Albert Herring as well as roles in Peter Grimes, Billy Budd and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Christopher has given many world premieres, including works by Menotti, Tan Dun and Louis Andriesson. Next year he will premiere A Harlot’s Progress by Iain Bell and Peter Ackroyd in Vienna.
He has written a book, the critically-acclaimed Who’s My Bottom? and his blog Saddo Abroad has become a favourite of the singing profession. He is currently writing his next book: Scraping The Bottom.

www.christophergillett.co.uk

www.saddoabroad.blogspot.com

Matthew Sharp – Life Is A Cabaret

Matthew Sharp has performed at major venues and festivals worldwide as solo cellist, baritone and actor. He has appeared with the RPO, LPO, RLPO, CBSO, EUCO, Manchester Camerata and Ural Philharmonic, performed principal roles for ROH2 (Exposure, Pleasure’s Progress), Opera North (Papageno, Pied Piper), Almeida Opera (The Silent Twins) and the Young Vic (Wolf and Hero), given solo performances at the Glastonbury and Latitude festivals, recorded for Sony, EMI, Naxos and Avie, appeared in recital as cellist and singer at Wigmore Hall, SBC and Salle Gaveau and given over fifty world premieres. Premiere highlights include Sir John Tavener’s The Fool – a 45-minute dramatic oratorio for cello-playing baritone and string ensemble premiered at the SBC – Errollyn Wallen’s Cello Concerto and, most recently, Death’s Cabaret – A Love Story, a ‘cabaret concerto’ by Stephen Deazley and Martin Riley. Last year, for Opera North alone, he wrote and directed A Ghost Story for Christmas, performed the Bach Suites at Light Night Festival, sang in The Lost Chord and conceived their ‘Four Seasons’ collaboration with the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, now a sell-out series in its second season. As writer, composer and performer, he collaborates regularly with leading artists from film, theatre and dance. Matthew is the artistic director of the Deal Festival of Music and the Arts and of Sharp Productions.

Upcoming highlights include the London premiere of Whale Music – a piece by Matthew and Sameer Rao with words by Sir Andrew Motion, originally premiered simultaneously in Deal and Mumbai via cyber-link – at the South Bank’s Alchemy Festival, appearances with the CBSO, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Opera North, performances at festivals in Sweden, France, Greece and India and the creation of an event for the opening of the Anish Kapoor exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
www.matthewsharp.net

 

We are sorry to be missing:

Paula Anglin

After gaining a Bachelor of Music with Honours from the University of California in theory and composition, Paula Anglin decided to pursue singing as a career. She studied with Raymond Nilsson while singing with San Francisco Opera as a contralto, and he subsequently sent her to London to train with Vida Harford. While working with Vida she changed to the soprano repertoire, and has since worked with Nicholas Powell (vocal technique), David Harper (voice) and Delia Lindon (drama). She has sung over 30 operatic roles with companies such as Nexus Opera, Scottish Opera and San Francisco Opera, as well as in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland. Her roles have included The Governess (The Turn of the Screw), First Lady, Pamina and Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflote), Donna Elvira and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Musetta (La Boheme), Gilda (Rigoletto), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Michaela (Carmen), Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana), Savitri (Savitri, Holst), Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro), Phedre (Ariane, Massenet), Marie (Wozzeck), Leonora (Fidelio), and Agathe (Der Freischutz). Her current repertoire includes Turandot, Ariadne, the Brunnhildes and Die Kaiserin (Die Frau Ohne Schatten).

Paula’s concert repertoire is extensive and includes Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Britten’s War Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Mass in D, Elgar’s Light of Life, Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Messiaen’s Poemes pour Mi, Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Ravel’s Scheherezade, and Schonberg’s Erwartung.

Paula’s most recent performances have been a shared recital of Jake Heggie songs at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Mark Packwood; a recital at St. George’s Bloomsbury also with Mark Packwood; Vaughn Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem at the National Concert Hall, Dublin with Brian McKay conducting; a recital for Opera with Attitude, singing scenes from Tosca and Turandot with Seamus Kinsella (tenor) and Lada Valesova (piano), and a recital of opera scenes and arias with Dominic Natoli (tenor) and David Harper (piano).

In addition to her singing Paula has established a successful teaching career. Her reputation has steadily grown since she began working with singers in 1983, and she now has students singing in several of the world’s major opera houses and concert venues. She has been affiliated with Foothill College in Los Altos, California, DeAnza College in Sunnyvale, California, the University of California at San Jose, and most recently the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In addition to several master classes at various universities and conservatories in the US, she has made presentations to the National Association of Teachers of Singing national symposiums and regional meetings, as well as to the Opera Studio at Opera Pacific, Los Angeles, and for Studio West for Singers, Los Angeles and San Diego. Paula is now based in London and maintains teaching studios there, as well as in Vienna and Madrid.

 Rebecca Stockland

Rebecca Stockland began her singing career while still at school in Oxford, belonging to many of the city’s choirs and vocal groups. A graduate in Music from the University of Exeter (where she was one of the first female choral scholars), Rebecca continued her training under Rudolph Piernay at GSMD.  She is currently studying with Jennie Caron.  Before turning to opera, Rebecca enjoyed a wide variety of performance stages, from ensemble singing with groups such as the BBC Singers, Monteverdi Choir, English Concert, The Sixteen, Ikon and L’Inviti Singers, to the concert platform, in both oratorio and recital. Recently performed roles inclue Pitti-Sing (The Mikado), Meg Page (Niccolai’s Merry Wives of Windsor) and Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), all for Surrey Opera. Rebecca was a member of the company for Grange Park Opera’s 2008 and 2009 seasons, performing in Offenbach’s Blue Beard, Dvorak’s Rusalka and Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas, Bellini’s Norma, Verdi’s Rigoletto and Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen. Rebecca also participated in the 2007 Buxton International Opera Festival. Other roles studied and/or performed include Third Lady, Diana (La Calisto), Mistress Quickly, Zita, Fidalma (Il Matrimonio Segreto), Dryad (Ariadne auf Naxos), Dido, Sorceress, Olga, Dorabella, Cherubino, Tisbe, Dulcinée (Don Quijote), Romeo, Rosina, Isabella (L’italiana in Algeri), Carmen, Josí (von Suppé’s Ten Belles without a Ring) and Clarina (La Cambiale di Matrimonio).  Companies worked for include English Touring Opera, Surrey Opera, New Chamber Opera, Abbey Opera, Birkbeck Opera, Morely College Opera and ROH Education Department.

Having combined singing with a busy teaching schedule for many years, Rebecca left St Benedict’s School, Ealing at the end of the 2009/10 academic year to pursue her dream role as a full-time company mezzo chorister with English National Opera. Roles performed/covered include: a Voice (Parsifal), Brian’s Mother (Two Boys), Noble Widow (Der rosenkavalier), off-stage voice (Tales of Hoffmann) and The Aunt (Madam Butterfly).

 

One thought on “Speakers

  1. Fascinating and truly inspirational day it will be!

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